Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 5-22-20

Feature
Gwen Myers Becomes First To Qualify By Petition To Replace County Commissioner Les Miller
Myers also leads District 3 in money raised
Gwen Myers has be- come the first candidate to qualify by petition and be placed on the August pri- mary ballot to replace re- tiring Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Les Miller, thanks to citizen signa- tures. Myers collected more than 2,000 signa- tures and submitted them to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elec- tions office before Mon-
day, May 11th, 12 p. m. noon deadline. The County Supervisor of Elec- tions has since certified her petition.
“Being the first and so far only candidate to be on the ballot thanks to the signatures of the voters of District 3 speaks the broad, grassroots appeal of my campaign,” Myers said. “I have spent my en- tire life serving this com- munity, not as a politician, but as a county housing and health care official and I think that experi- ence along with my will- ingness to listen and help
GWEN MYERS ...Qualified By Petition as a
candidate for Hillsborough County Commnission District 3
others is a big reason I’ll
win this race.”
Candidates who do not
qualify by citizen petition will have to pay a $6,041.10 filing fee.
The 1992 Hillsbor- ough County Volunteer of the Year, Myers also leads the potential District 3 candidate field with money raised and cash on hand. Since announcing her campaign last year, Myers has raised more than $41,000.
The District 3 Hills- borough County commis- sion seat is being vacated by Miller who is term limited out.
An early advocate for the All for Transportation plan overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2018, Myers has served on Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s African Ameri- can Advisory Council, the Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board, the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Cen- ter Council, the Corpora- tion to Develop Communities (CDC) of Tampa, as well as civic or- ganizations like the League of Women Voters and the West Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
16 HBCUs Receive Help From Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, historically Black colleges and universities face financial hardships that could be greater than those of other institutions of higher educa- tion. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation hopes to relieve some of this burden by dis- tributing $1.76 million to 16 HBCUs.
The money will help sta- bilize enrollment for the up- coming school year and aid in addressing technology needs, tuition and bill assistance for students and other necessi- ties.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's mission is to “strengthen, promote, and defend the centrality of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse, fair, and democratic societies” by supporting higher education.
“HBCUs play an essential role in shaping the minds and futures of our nation’s tal- ented young people,” said
Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander. “As the COVID-19 pandemic dis- proportionately affects under-resourced institutions and communities of color, the Mellon Foundation is proud to provide focused support for students attending these vital historically black schools.”
According to a press re- lease, 16 universities will be receiving $110,000 each from the foundation.
The list of institutions in- cludes Lincoln University, Claflin University, Clark At- lanta University, Dillard Uni- versity, Fisk University, Hampton University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, More- house College, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, Spel- man College, Tougaloo Col- lege, Winston-Salem State University and Xavier Uni- versity of Louisiana.
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